J/111 Wins Round Island Race
Thanks to Gary Leduc for this report: "The race started at 8:00 am in 11-13 knots true from the east. We had a short port tack favored beat out to a drop mark, then a jib reach down Muskegett Channel to the sea buoy. The second leg was pretty much dead downwind, but the starboard jibe was a little favored. The breeze stayed easterly until the very end of the 16-mile run, when the wind clocked a little SE and freshened. That made for a nice broad reach from Squibnocket to Devil’s Bridge. On the approach to Devil’s Bridge, the breeze slammed back to the east and started to freshen slightly to 14-16 knots. The tide was slack at Devil’s Bridge, but due to start flooding soon. The key is to get up inside middle ground in Vineyard Sound for the flood and ride a 2 knot boost all the way past Vineyard Haven. That did happen for us, and as we came out of middle ground at West Chop, we were doing over 10 knots SOG right into the 14-16 knot Easterly. Those conditions made for very, very close, steep chop. One issue we did have was the Ferry coming out of Vineyard Haven. We could not cross her bow. So, we had to tack onto port. We wanted to continue on starboard, but the ferry altered that plan slightly. Once clear, we tacked back onto port to a layline for the finish line. We were a bottom-rated boat in PHRF Class A, while the highest rating boat was Aurora, a 65 footer. Also in our class were Chessie Racing and Irie and Crazy Horse, all big fast boats over 55 feet. Our corrected time was 6:38:11, winning by a margin of 19min 20sec! Since 2013, the J/111 WICKED 2.0’s race record in the Around The Vineyard Race looks like three firsts and one second."
110th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac
From tragedy and big seas to flat calm and floating, the 110th Chicago Mackinac Race was a race of extremes for the 289.4 nm course from the Chicago Lighthouse, just off Navy Pier, to Mackinac Island. After the Cruising Division start on July 20 and the Racing Division start on July 21, the 288-boat fleet was soon dealt with 20+ knots and six-to-eight foot seas as they sailed up Lake Michigan. Ultimately, 65 teams would retire. As the low moved east, the wind lightened and a weak high pressure system met the fleet in the northern part of the lake. Seventeen J/111s started, and it was Dave Irish’s Nosurprise that took Class honors, ahead of Richard Witzel’s Rowdy and Tom Dickson’s Warlock. For complete results, visit http://competitor.cycracetomackinac.com/results.cfm.
Wicked Time at Edgartown
Edgartown Yacht Club’s 80-year-old ’Round-the-Island (’RTI) race is 56 nautical-miles. It started early and finished in the late afternoon on the wings of a moderately heavy breeze. It is part of Edgartown Yacht Club’s annual Edgartown Race Weekend, which includes two days of ‘Round-the-Buoys racing on Thursday and Friday (July 19 and 20) before segueing into Saturday’s distance racing that this year also included, for the first time, a shorter ’Round-the-Sound race. Douglas Curtiss’s J/111 Wicked 2.0 won PHRF A. For complete results, visit http://www.rtirace.org/raceresults.shtml.
Sun-Baked July ‘Champagne Charlie’ Regatta at Royal Southern Yacht Club
Running racing in light winds on the biggest tides of the year meant the weekend of 14–15 July was never going to be easy. With water temperature in the Solent now almost 21 degrees Celsius and unbroken sunshine predicted, the met office forecast was for a late start to the sea breeze on Saturday and even lighter winds on Sunday. The PRO, Philip Gage, issued an amendment to add an extra race on the Saturday, in case racing had to be abandoned on Sunday – as indeed turned out to be the case. The larger keel boats in Black group set off on schedule, with a light southeasterly blowing and the last of the east-going flood adding to the apparent wind. But after the first race was completed, the wind died away as the southwesterly sea breeze started to kick in – but slowly. As it got stronger, the race team managed to get in three more races, with the final race being the best conditions of the day. The J/111 fleet was won by Jelvis (Martin Dent). Full details of the results can be found here: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4691.
Light Air Queen’s Cup Race
The 80th running of the Queen’s Cup, one of the most storied yacht races on the Great Lakes hosted by the South Shore Yacht Club will certainly not go down as one of the fastest in history. Nearly 200 boats participated, with over 1,200 sailors enjoying great parties both pre-race and post-race at each venue (Milwaukee, WI across Lake Michigan at a course of approximately 89 degrees to Grand Haven, MI). PHRF 3 was the J/111 Division. Winning that competitive class was Mark Caliban’s NO QUARTER, followed by Brad Faber’s UTAH in second and Richard Hobbs’ HOBGOBLIN holding on for the bronze. For more Queen’s Cup Race information, visit http://www.ssyc.org/.
Bravo Block Island Race Week
The Duck Island Yacht Club in Westbrook, CT and the Block Island Yacht Club teamed up to co-host Block Island Race Week 2018. The sailors were blessed with five good days of racing on Block Island Sound from June 17-22. In the PHRF Spinnaker division, a half-dozen boats sailed the entire week. The highlight was the three-way "match race" taking place within the PHRF division all week long. In the end, topping the J/111s was Sedge & Andy Ward’s BRAVO. Greg Slamowitz’s MANITOU, then Kenn Fischburg’s WILD CHILD followed them in succession. For more BIRW information, visit http://www.birw2018.com/.
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